As made-to-order designers, Andreas Schmidl and Josef Lazo can enjoy a certain artistic license. This season they imagined the man they identify as the Lazoschmidl persona, as “an idol in rehab,” and described the collection as “garments for an imaginary boy band.” (IRL, Schmidl was living his dream, as Rebecca & Fiona, a Swedish DJ duo, recorded a track for the show music.) A trip to California, which included a visit to San Francisco’s Haight-Ashbury, inspired the rainbows and bright color palette, and, in part, explained the summery feeling of the collection. The designing duo showed iterations of their zippered pants and bedazzled velour pieces reading Angel and Broken that might be described as their version of Juicy Couture.
In the end, though, the clothes were accessories to the logo briefs (the brand name is printed in reverse so it’s legible when shown in selfies). “Everyone keeps telling us we need a commercial product,” explained Lazo, “and we thought that briefs were most in sync with our DNA to start with.” Having studied their sales, the pair realized that their customers were buying high (showy, embellished tops) and low (underwear). A survey of their Instagram followers revealed that most were young and more able to buy into the latter, hence the (many) pantsless looks for Fall. Whether or not the market will get the brief, Lazoschmidl is clearly not about business as usual.